The Portofino - VANNAE temple-less navigator sunglasses with blue-grey lenses and a gold chain finished with two green quartz stones, three-quarter view

The Portofino

LE 4,999.00
LE 4,999.00
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The Portofino - VANNAE temple-less navigator sunglasses with blue-grey lenses and a gold chain finished with two green quartz stones, three-quarter view
  • The Portofino - VANNAE temple-less navigator sunglasses with blue-grey lenses and a gold chain finished with two green quartz stones, three-quarter view
  • The Portofino - top view of the gold navigator frame with ribbed brow bar, blue-grey gradient lenses and hand-set green quartz chain
  • The Portofino - close-up of the blue-grey lens and the ribbed gold brow bar
  • The Portofino - close-up of the two raw green quartz stones in their gold-dipped settings
  • The Portofino - VANNAE temple-less navigator sunglasses with blue-grey lenses and a gold chain finished with two green quartz stones, three-quarter view
  • The Portofino - top view of the gold navigator frame with ribbed brow bar, blue-grey gradient lenses and hand-set green quartz chain
  • The Portofino - close-up of the blue-grey lens and the ribbed gold brow bar
  • The Portofino - close-up of the two raw green quartz stones in their gold-dipped settings
The Portofino

The Portofino

LE 4,999.00
LE 4,999.00

One of one. A navigator frame in gold, cut wide and squared at the corners, with a ribbed brow bar that catches the light like a fine bracelet. Blue-grey lenses fade from smoke at the top to a soft haze at the bottom. In place of temples, a gold chain drapes to two raw green quartz stones, each hand-set in a gold-dipped cap.

The Frame

Gold-tone metal navigator with a ribbed brow bar over a slim bridge. Temple-less: the chain is the temple.

The Lens

Blue-grey gradient polycarbonate lenses: lightweight, shatterproof, UV400. Clear enough to read the room, dark enough to keep your own counsel.

The Chain

18K gold-plated box chain, weighted to sit still against the neck and to fall cleanly when the glasses come off.

The Stone

Two natural green quartz stones, left raw and hand-set in 18K-plated caps. No two stones are alike, so no two pairs are alike. This is the only Portofino.

Designed in Egypt.

The Story

One of one. Portofino is a harbour that keeps its colour at dusk: the water turns blue-grey, the lamps on the hill turn gold. This pair holds that hour.

The Frame. A navigator, cut wide and squared at the corners, in gold-tone metal. The brow bar is ribbed, so it catches the light in fine lines, like a bracelet worn high on the face. There are no temples. The chain is the temple.

The Lens. Blue-grey gradient lenses in polycarbonate: lightweight, shatterproof, UV400. Smoke at the top, a soft haze at the bottom. Dark enough to keep your own counsel, clear enough to see who is looking.

The Chain. An 18K gold-plated box chain runs from each hinge, sits still against the neck, and falls cleanly when the glasses come off.

The Stone. At the ends of the chain hang two raw green quartz stones. They were not cut or polished; they were chosen. Each is hand-set in an 18K gold-plated cap, and each carries its own fractures and its own light. No two stones are alike, so no two Vannae are alike.

This is the only Portofino. Designed in Egypt.

AS WORN

The Portofino, on.

No studio. An afternoon out, and the pair exactly as it arrives — held by the chain, resting on the shoulders.

One of one · This pair, this stone

VANNAE
A length of gold box chain on black

THE ATELIER

One of one.

No arms. Real stone. Yours alone.

The Portofino

THE OBJECT

A pair held by a chain.

Most glasses are held by two arms. These are held by a chain — and every other decision followed from that one.

THE FRAME

There are no arms.

The chain clips into a small gold loop at each corner, passes the ear, and falls. Behind that loop there is nothing at all.

  1. The loopWhere the chain clips in
  2. No armsNo hinge, no fold
The Portofino

THE LENS

A lens that does not shatter.

Polycarbonate. It absorbs impact instead of breaking, and the UV400 filter is part of the material itself — no coating on top to scratch away or fade.

  1. UV400In the material, not a coating
  2. Impact-resistantTakes the hit and gives
Box link, plated in 18K gold. Box chainFour flat faces18K platingOver every surface

THE CHAIN

Box link, plated in 18K gold.

Square links keep their line instead of twisting into a rope, so the chain lies flat and stays put. The 18K plating covers every link, not just the faces you see.

  1. Box chainFour flat faces
  2. 18K platingOver every surface
Real stone. Never the same twice. NaturalFractures left aloneNo two alikeDifferent stone, different pair

THE STONE

Real stone. Never the same twice.

Every stone is natural — chosen, not made. No two come out of the ground alike, so no two pairs leave here alike.

  1. NaturalFractures left alone
  2. No two alikeDifferent stone, different pair
Extreme macro of the gold plating meeting the natural stone

Plated in 18K gold.

THE BALANCE

So what actually keeps it on?

Weight, settled before assembly. The chain is weighed against the frame and against the stone, so the piece balances itself and sits where you set it.

HOW IT IS MADE

Four decisions, in order.

01

Select

One stone is taken out of many, and its marks are left alone.

02

Gold

The collar around the stone is plated here in 18K gold.

03

Link

Built to length, plated through, fixed at each corner.

04

Balance

Frame, chain and stone, weighed against each other.

VANNAE

No two stones are alike,
so no two pairs are alike.

Held by a chain. Plated in 18K gold. Set with a stone that exists once.

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